Um esquema para autoria de histórias em mundos virtuais

Abstract

Virtual Reality environments present new opportunities for therapy of children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) especially when you want to explore scenarios and theater's own narratives. However, manipulation of the elements needed for design of scenario and actions in a virtual world, is a complex activity that requires solid programming skills, unusual for professionals mediating theater-therapy. This work describes a two-phase authoring scheme where, at first, the professional defines elements such as props, roles and actions of a ‘story’ in a (2D) virtual environment for easy manipulation and then have these elements transposed to a virtual reality environment (3D) which may be used by the subject of therapy. The proposed scheme was applied to the development of a prototype where ScratchS4SL and OpenSimulator tools were respectively the 2D and 3D environments used. The ‘virtual theater’ was introduced to professional mediators in a formative evaluation cycle where the authors emphasized its fitness for purpose and potential to support the socialization of children with ASD.